Three High School Seniors Each Take Home Awards of $150,000 from
Nationâ€™s Highest-Awarding Science Competition

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Noah Golowich, Andrew Jin and Michael Hofmann Winer each received
first-place awards of $150,000 at the Intel Science Talent Search
2015, a program of Society for Science & the Public.

The top winners and other finalists from across the United States took
home awards totaling more than $1 million.

The Intel Science Talent Search, the nationâ€™s oldest and most
prestigious pre-college science and math competition, recognizes 40
high school seniors who are poised to create new technologies and
solutions that will positively impact peopleâ€™s lives.

WASHINGTON — (BUSINESS WIRE) — March 10, 2015 —
Americaâ€™s most promising young scientists were celebrated tonight in the
nationâ€™s capital as they received more than $1 million in awards from
Intel Corporation. These scientists are the winners of the Intel Science
Talent Search, the nationâ€™s most prestigious pre-college science and
math competition and a program of Society for Science & the Public (SSP).

Starting this year, the Intel Science Talent Search tripled the top
awards to further recognize finalists and highlight the variety of
research conducted. In place of the previous grand prize of $100,000,
three first-place Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 were presented
to students who showed exceptional scientific potential in three
categories: Basic Research, Global Good, and Innovation.

Noah Golowich, 17, of Lexington, Massachusetts, won the First
Place Medal of Distinction for Basic Research, which recognizes
finalists who demonstrate exceptional scientific potential through depth
of research and analysis. Noah developed a proof in the area of Ramsey
theory, a field of mathematics based on finding types of structure in
large and complicated systems. He is the captain of his high school math
team, plays for his high school tennis team and plays jazz piano in his
spare time.

Andrew Jin, 17, of San Jose, California, won the First Place
Medal of Distinction for Global Good, which rewards finalists who
demonstrate great scientific potential through their passion to make a
difference. Andrew developed a machine learning algorithm to identify
adaptive mutations across the human genome. By analyzing massive public
genomic datasets, his system discovered more than 100 adaptive mutations
related to immune response, metabolism, brain development and
schizophrenia in real DNA sequences. Understanding the genetic causes of
these diseases is an important first step toward developing gene
therapies or vaccines. Andrew is an accomplished pianist who has
performed at Carnegie Hall.

Michael Hofmann Winer, 18, of North Bethesda, Maryland, won the First
Place Medal of Distinction for Innovation, which celebrates
finalists who demonstrate the problem-solving aptitude of an engineer
through innovative design and creativity. Michael studied how
fundamental quasi-particles of sound, called phonons, interact with
electrons. His work could potentially be applied to more complex atomic
structures such as superconductors. Michael was a silver medalist at the
2014 International Physics Olympiad, where he was the top-scoring U.S.
student on the theoretical exam.

â€śA solid foundation in science, technology, engineering and math creates
the critical talent corporations and startups need to drive their
business and contribute to economic development,â€ť said Renee James,
president of Intel Corporation. â€śWe hope this program will encourage
other young people to become the next generation of scientists,
inventors and engineers.â€ť

In addition to the top awards, three second-place winners received
awards of $75,000 and three third-place winners received awards of
$35,000.

Second Place:

Brice Huang, 17, of Princeton Junction, New Jersey, won the Second
Place Medal of Distinction for Basic Research. Brice extended
previous mathematical research on power ideals â€“ linear functions of
variables raised to some power â€“ and was able to calculate the power
idealâ€™s series of dimension for a larger class of ideals than has
previously been possible.

Kalia D. Firester, 17, of New York City, won the Second Place
Medal of Distinction for Global Good. Kalia studied how a protein
produced by nematodes, which are crop-destroying parasites, interacts
with a plantâ€™s cells and defenses. Her research may contribute to
engineering natural immunity to repel a pest that costs global
agriculture $100 billion annually.

Saranesh (Saran) Thanika Prembabu, 17, of San Ramon, California,
won the Second Place Medal of Distinction for Innovation. Saran
studied how varying the layers of lead titanate and strontium ruthenate
in nanocrystal superlattices can affect their electrical and magnetic
properties, which could be harnessed for a variety of electrical and
computing applications.